The number of applications for admission
to the Smith class of 2007 was the second highest (3,304) in the history
of the college, after an all-time high of 3,344 applications for the
class of 1999.

Newly arriving students comprise 640 first-years
and 52 international students, from 46 U.S. states and 35
countries. Twenty-four percent of the class members are women of color.
The class of 2007 also
includes 77 transfer students and 68 Ada Comstock Scholars.

The
class of 2007 also boasts an impressive number of students
entering with academic distinction. Of those from schools reporting rank,
59 percent graduated
in the top decile of their high school classes. Forty have been named STRIDE
scholars in recognition of their outstanding academic and personal qualifications.
Each STRIDE scholar is paired with a faculty member as a paid assistant to
collaborate on research and scholarship during her first two years at
the college.

Individually,
the new students have an engaging assortment of interests. They include a recent
immigrant from Croatia who has volunteered in St. Louis for
the past four years helping Bosnians learn English and adjust to life in the
United States, and a student from Clinton, New York, who was a finalist in
the Intel Science Talent Search, already having conducted significant
research in
geology and presented papers at the Geological Society of America in 2000,
2001 and 2002. Also among the ranks are twins from Tucson, Arizona, with
strong ties
to the Tohono O'odham Native American community and who have performed
volunteer work with the Tucson Metro Education Commission's Youth Advisory
Council. A first-year student from Dakar, Senegal, received an award from her
country's president honoring her as the best 13th-grader in the entire
country.

Over the summer, all entering students were
required to read Atonement, the acclaimed novel by Ian McEwan. During
orientation, students gathered in small
groups with
faculty to discuss their reaction to the book, which covered issues of honesty,
integrity and the consequences of choices. The topics fit well with this year's
orientation focus on building community, which emphasized the ethical obligations
that community membership entails. The many activities, talks and events during
orientation shared an underlying theme of personal integrity. -- JME